I Feel Better Getting This Off My Chest

I don’t hate people. I may disapprove of behaviors, but I believe hate is destructive. I don’t hate very much. I don’t believe in it. I say this because there IS one thing that happens every year that I hate.

So before I say this let me also say I am an optimist. I believe good things are going to happen. I like my life. This is my grounding and my perspective. We need grounding and perspective to make sure we keep balance through the ups and downs. But…

I hate the 50 or so days between Halloween and the Winter Solstice. Between 31 October and 21 December, the days are already short and are getting still shorter. Even if winter isn't my favorite, I don't hate it. I also don’t hate Autumn. Here in Northern Virginia, the first part of Autumn is beautiful. I’m not a big fan of the snow but where I live you don’t usually see snow during those 50-something days. I think it’s something to do with the small and shrinking daily accounting of sunlight.

The actual Winter Solstice was at 7:22am EST this year. It didn’t get by without me noticing, but I was busting my butt at work to get clear of the J.O.B. for Christmas. Now we’re 10 days past it and getting a bigger allowance of sunlight everyday. I feel better already.

I don’t know exactly why the Druids built Stonehenge when something less ostentatious (and portable) would have met the need for a calendar. But I know the pagans celebrated the Winter Solstice by dancing around a big burning log, and whenever I think about it at this time of year, it sure seems like a good idea to me.

(Clare) Short on Compassion

My son called to get me on this story....

Liberal "Moonbat" Clare Short, Ex-United Nations Commissioner for something or other, Spouts off about a nasty coalition (Japan, India, the United States and Australia) to administer relief to tsunami victims. According to this half-wit, the United States doesn't have the moral authority to deliver aid. Our money and goods are OK, but our name and flag does not deserve to be associated with anything virtuous.

Our vast fleets of military ships and planes are the fastest way to get goods moved on the scale that we're talking about. Y'know Clare, those vast fleets that we pay for with our massive military budget that the left constantly complains about? Y'see, we fill up them airplanes with relief supplies and then tank them plumb full of petrochemical fuel and we run up those turbines till they spew water vapor and greenhouse gases out the back and make the most awful environmentally damaging noise. Then we point them toward places where people are dyin' and we rush in those supplies just in time. Bastards that we are, we do it all the time and we don't even charge for the service. Maybe we don't charge because we don't have the moral authority to do so.

Oh, Clare, if only we'd defiled ourselves with buckets and buckets of that filthy money from the Oil-for Fascist Dictators Scheme, then we'd meet your standards. Or perhaps if we were engaged in pedophilia in Africa like your mission there, then we'd be so much more worthy of participation in disaster relief. Oh, yes! And if only the Perpetual Molester was still President of the United States. He'd fit right in covering up sexual harrasment at the diplomatically immunized grope club. You know, that high-rise real estate in New York City?

Clare, that's one hell of a stack of moral authority you folks got there. Let me make sure my daughters are locked up before you folks come to town.

Clare, you've given away the key meme of the anti-American left. It is more important to make the United States look bad, than it is to solve problems. The same UN that refuses to help us establish democracy in Iraq, wants to be in charge of and take credit for American Dollars spent everywhere else. If we fail in Iraq, that makes America look bad. If the UN administers American tsunami aid, that keeps the US from looking good. The welfare of the people in Iraq or the Far East is not important as long as the US does not garner any positive public relations value from the event.

Clare - if you want to help distribute our aid, go to one of our drop zones and catch one of our 1000 Kilo Food bundles- with your face.

Boorishness, Elegance and Baby-Back Ribs

While dining out at a distinctive establishment in the vicinity of DC last night, the subject of conversation began to run downhill into medical details. As it continued to spiral downward, I finally held up my hand and said "enough, we're dining here". My colleague derided my sensitivity, declaring that I must have "the most sensitive stomach in the world".

It has nothing to do with my stomach or my appetite. It has to do with elegance and class. When I take my wife out to dinner with friends, I do so to enjoy the best of what the world has to offer. Good service, good food (in this case,the best BBQ Baby-Back ribs I've had anywhere), and good atmosphere. Dinner conversation is part of good atmosphere. I want to experience elegance. Elegance is the result of discrimination. Elegance requires that we reject certain things that don't make the cut. Certain threads may be interesting, but interesting by itself is not a great recommendation.

We have the freedom to spout out most anything we want, but just because we can, doesn't mean we should. And this is held in common with our society. There are many things we have the freedom to do. We can make fluid use of obscenities in every conversation, fail to give merging traffic a kind break, and be rude to people working in the service industry. We can anxiously endeavor to have sex with as many people as possible or employ back-stabbing practices to make an ambitious climb to the top of some corporate ladder. But just because we can, does not mean we should. To do so does not make us a better person or the world a better place.

The Ancient Greeks held a view that the soul is a combination of the knowledge and experience you put into it. We live in a society that lets you fill your soul with whatever you want. There's a running stream of stuff to build your soul from. I may be wrong, but I think a "quality of soul" requires investment. If you filter your experiences by discriminating how your time is invested, you will increase your value. Maybe I'm a lone voice "crying in the wilderness". But my wife appreciates me being the Sergeant-at-Arms for quality of conversation.

The world is a composite of all the things we put into it. Hollywood howls about the emissions of your SUV, but will print anything to celluloid to make a buck. No stream of words or images is too considered too foul for Hollywood distribution. (We saw 2 movies recently that buck the trend) Zell Miller made a Senate floor speech earlier this year that touched on this subject.

Send me a note or leave a non-anonymous comment if you want to know which 2 movies and where the "best BBQ baby back ribs" are.

Polygamy and Polyandry. More Aftershocks of the Right to Privacy

Mark Steyn writes a revealing column about the impact of inventing and redefining "rights". I'm on the fence about polygamy. It's a system with a long-standing track record. It has been in use for the full expanse of recorded history and it works. Even here in the states there are extended polygamous families that function well within western culture. Also, it seems to me that there are more "Marrying Women" than there are "marrying Men". It always has seemed that way to me. I've rarely known a woman to turn down a marriage proposal from any guy that has even a shred of credibility. Such a shift would change the dynamic. Women and men could build families that allow them to balance their careers (career and stay at home moms), meet their taste for intimacy (difference of sensual frequency) and allow far more women to participate in parenthood with a man as something other than a source of genetic material. Perhaps more children having a father figure too. However, as Steyn points out, within entitlement societies there are huge issues that will have to be worked out. Social Security, Insurance, Divorce law, Child Support...ad nauseum.

Can we redefine marriage to mean any two people but not include any three, five or "your favorite number here". Is there a government responsibility to protect desperate women from manipulative men that collect wives as a hobby?

I can't imagine a big market for polyandry, but should it catch on, who's name does the kid have? "Who's yo daddy " takes on a new meaning.

Stay tuned on this one. It's coming soon to a Supreme Court near you and the whole "Gay Lobby vs the People of Texas" case set this thing up to roll ahead like the 2004 Red Sox. It's gonna be fun to watch.

Do YOU Believe in Evolution?

Survival of the fittest. The strong over the weak. There are an enlightened bunch that believe that the diverse flora and fauna of this world are the result of an evolutionary process. They say they believe in evolution. They believe that natural selection got us to where we are.

But now that we are here, the same bunch says that we should stop this selection process. Now that we've been selected at the peril of many other species, we should stop exercising our dominance. All species are important and must be protected. Well, if we are to believe Mr. Darwin, that "ain't dancin with the one what brung us". Is selection real? If it is real, is it not the "lawgiver"? If there is no God, then evolution is the law that got us here. If we decide to wipe out the Passenger Pigeon or the Spotted Owl, it is our right and priveledge under the law that established our superiority. As we are subject to the whim of any superior species that rises against us.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think we should be careless with the environment. I'm all for protecting species and trying to peacefully co-exist. But when wolves come into town to kill our chilluns or our livestock, I'm a gonna git my gun an kill 'em. I'm highly skeptical of the reasoning that evolution is the law, but that we shouldn't abide by it.

Now, with all that said. Are cultures equal? No, they aren't. Has it been an evolutionary process that got us here? Yes, it is. Have many cultures died out along the way? Yes, they have. Is this the Law with respect to culture? Yes it is.

Multiculturalism is a bunch of mush. There is no such thing as a "static cultural state" unless that culture is completely isolated. As soon as two cultures make contact, they both begin to evolve. The best cultures assimilate what is best and reject what is worthless. That's what makes a culture viable. Accepting or tolerating ignorant, suppressive, primitive cultural behaviors on the basis of inclusiveness is idiocy.

In parts of the Arab world, slavery is still practiced. Shall we include it in our multi-cultural tolerance?
Women are mutilated to prevent them from deriving pleasure from sex. Shall we be tolerant of that?
Orientals believe that certain products from endangered species have powerful aphrodisiac or medicinal qualities. They provide a lucrative black market for poachers. Shall we be tolerant of that? If diversity for it's own sake is the objective, then wouldn't we need to be tolerant of Neo-Nazis?

Here's the money shot. A bag of trash may be diverse, but it's still a bag of trash. Evolution by definition indicates an improvement. Diversity is only good if the traits promote a benefit.

The Real Donald

The real Donald is "Rummy". I've met "Rummy" and seen him in action. He has all the charisma of Reagan and the charity and compassion of a saint. Someone else has had the opportunity to see the real "Donald". If you saw his Christmas Eve address to the troops, you'd have to be blind to miss the depth of his appreciation for the service and sacrifice of the American Soldier. Donald Rumsfeld is not "power hungry, imperial, or nationalistic. He is a thinking, patriot in the same sense as the founding fathers. He knows the world is not a perfect place and that force must be used where words won't work.
Rumsfeld has a deep understanding of history in the classical sense. He understands that great battles can be avoided by timely intervention. Islam and the West are on a collision course and our actions in the war on terror are an attempt to divert Islam from it's course of intolerance.
Historical perspective.....On D-Day, things went pretty well. We only lost about 5000 troops. We lost as many in 2 hours at Pearl Harbor as we've lost so far in Iraq. 60 years ago, at the battle of the Bulge, the 1st Army, the 101st Airborne and Patton's Third Army lost 5000 in ten days. We lost nearly 10000 in 2 months of Okinawa. Those numbers are small compared to the German and Russian losses at Stalingrad and other places. If we have to fight for a hundred years at this pace, the casualties will not equate to the 400000 we lost in 4 years during WWII. Rumsfeld understands that this is the way to fight this war. We don't want to "Chamberlain" this thing into another "Hot" World War. Rumsfeld is the most "misunderestimated" man in the world.

During his Chrismas Eve talk with the troops, he took the opportunity to needle the Main Sewerstream Media. It's as close as he can get to saying "You're Fired!"

The Death of the New York Times.

But before it's over you can bet that there will be a lot of complaining about the internet and the customized news it will deliver. Note the complaint that our future news will be made shallow and narrow when content is customized. Yes, we shall certainly miss that unbiased broad, deep and fair coverage of CBS News and the New York Times, but somehow we will survive. Do the words "good riddance" ring a bell?

People will chase the truth, even if it it news they don't want to hear. But what they don't want to hear is pious pontification from snobs that hold them in contempt. Here's the kind of content that the NYT is never going to provide.

I apologize for the lack of a charitable Christmas theme here. But read further to find that stuff.

How to be Pleased With Yourself

The Question of the Day is not what you would like for Christmas. The Question is: How far are you willing to go to make sure that someone else has the holiday they would like? Are you going to be someones hero/heroine?

A Merry Christmas, Channukah (belated), Kwanzaa, Druid Solstice Nymph Dance, or non-religious, turkey/goose/ham safe vegetarian, fully secularized and commercialized, fur-free holiday to each of you. Choose the one that makes you happy.

Thanks to each of you for checking in occasionally over the short history of this site.

Mike aka Ironcross 11

The Sensual Differential

Ever notice how intimate relationships are marked by highs and lows, like tidal action? As an amateur student* of the dynamics between men and women, I find this more than a little interesting and amusing. Have you ever watched one of those couples where the wife complains that the husband isn't interested enough in sex? The cliché is a man that is more interested in sex than his woman. But it occasionally happens the other way around. I call this the sexual or sensual differential. Just off the top of my head, there are at least three main factors to it. Frequency, timing and content are the ones that get the most attention.

*I was tempted to use "layman"


Frequency. Each person is tuned to a sensual frequency. It is the appetite for sex. It must be noted a person's sensual tuning is dynamic and changes with health, stress, age and other factors. When in a monogamous relationship, to put it delicately, the more sensually disposed, is in a state of negotiation or competition with the less amorous partner. One is tuned to a higher "frequency", the other to a "lower". Since the relationship is monogamous both partners are operating on the same "frequency" even though independently they are individually tuned to a different frequency. The sensual differential factor is the range between the high and low frequncies. The frequency is a compromise.


Timing. Even if both partners had the same frequency, it is possible for the timing to be out of phase, This produces the same or worse effect as a simple frequency differential. Both feel like they are the more romantic/sensual and don't understand why. Certainly couples working different shifts to make ends meet deal with this. In a case where a couple was 180 degrees out of phase, the "mood" would rarely coincide. In practice, only one actual historical reality is possible. The actual occurances of intimate contact are a reality that cannot be in phase with both partners. Timing is a compromise.


Content. Certainly people prefer different rituals and content, she wants him to take her dancing, he wants her to wear something from Victoria's Secret© and so on. Many aspects of sexual expectations are highly treasured fantasies. The fantasies and preferences may not be at all similar between the partners. The result is that subconciously or even consciously, each partner may actually be trying to train the other into a set of preferred behaviors to get toward the desired sexual content. Because of that, intimacy may become a ritual that is a mish-mash of preparation, seduction, consumation and -forgive me for for this, mop-up. All through the experience, there is negotiation and compromise, accomodation and denial. Sometimes content may be perfect for one and not for the other... or not.

In all three cases, the differential factor is a state of imbalance and imbalance seeks equity or "entropy". In electricity, it is called voltage, tension or potential. For water, it's called pressure. In circular motion, it's called torque. The differential factor is not about getting your way. Continuously "getting your way" perpetuates the state of energy or imbalance, and will continuously leave someone dissatisfied. The trick to managing electricity, water pressure or torque is to be able to channel it to your purposes. You only get exactly the sex you want when you want it if someone delivers it. In order to make "balance" happen, sometimes you need to be the one that delivers. The perfect relationship has no victim. And you can quote me on that.

Is Health Care a "Right"?

I'm not sure that there is a "right" to health care. Rights are things that we say we are born with, that we secure for ourselves by force if necessary. Rights are things that the government will enforce at the point of a gun. If a child is born in a tin roofed shack in Eastern Kentucky, will the govenment force a doctor to go out to the house and give it a "well baby" check-up? If no one volunteers to be doctors, will the government force people to become doctors against their will? Doctors are quitting all over the country, because tort lawyers are driving up the cost of practice to where it isn't worth it. Do doctors have to subjugate their interest in providing for their family to the interest of someone who can't afford to pay for care but can file a lawsuit if something goes wrong? Are we going to have police that force doctors to practice medicine?

We will send a policeman to protect your life, liberty and pursuit of happiness from the deliberate act of another human being, because that is your right. We will use force to protect each other within certain parameters. But if you want protection from the effects of accident, lifestyle, genetics or age, you need to pay that price yourself. We have helped provide protections of Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness to people all around the world. Is it our duty to provide health care also?

We pay property taxes to support the police and firemen that protect our property. The zoning commission and building inspector have functions related to protecting property values and rights. The tax is in proportion to the value of the property. Property insurance premiums are in relation to the risk and the cost of repair/replacement.

Health care is not free. Someone has to develop the drugs. It's hard work. Testing them is risk-laden. Doctors go to school for a long time. They deserve to be compensated for their amassed education and experience. Medical equipment is expensive. Has to be terribly clean and precisely accurate.

How can you have a right to someone elses labor, knowledge, and property? If we treat your health as we do your real estate, then your taxes or premiums will have to be based on your risk and your value. That's a hard one. Who determines the value of a human being? But risk - that's precisely how life/health insurance is done.

If Joe Marshall doesn't have health coverage for himself, it's because he failed himself. He didn't save as much as he should have so that he could cover the premiums and he didn't have permanent coverage. In my youth, I spent many dollars foolishly. I wish I had them now, but wishing does not make it so. But whatever I have, Joe wants the government to take from me because he didn't provide for himself. Joe believes that he has a right to my property and yours and that if you try to keep it from him, the IRS or State should send cops to evict you from your house at the point of a gun so that your house can be sold to pay for his medical care. That's what happens when someone can't or refuses to pay taxes. The tax is enforced at the point of a gun if necessary. Joe thinks his need trumps your property rights.

The National Guard has been used to enforce civil rights. If a state refused to incorporate a universal healthcare system, would we send in the National Guard? Are we willing to force people to provide their Labor, Knowledge and Property either directly from the medical profession or from surrogate "taxpayers"?

I know that it seems heartless to say that if someone doesn't have assets, they might die. But that is the reality almost everywhere else in the world. If health care is a human right, should we distribute all of our doctors to Africa where they are needed more urgently?

No, I don't think this works. You deserve the health care you can afford. If you can't afford it, then family must provide. If family can't then perhaps charity. But I'd hate to have a cop come up and tell me to do open heart surgery because the man in the next room has a right to an operation and my experience skinning animals makes me the best qualified surgeon.

And this accusation that there is a war on the poor? That crock is getting old. The war on the poor is the psychological campaign that keeps them in poverty by leading them to believe that they have a right to consume without producing. The poor in America did a lot better from 1940 to 1964 than they did after the advent of the Great *couch, cough* Society. You cannot have a right that cannot be shared by all simultaneously. We cannot all simutaneously sit idle and consume, Someone must produce. Therefore welfare is not a right. It is charity at best and theft the rest of the time.

The Inside Information on Conflict

When some whiny leftist nitwit starts to burden you with the insane and fallacious reasoning that (a) "war is not the answer", (b) that "all war is terrorism" or (c) "can't we all just get along", the comprehensive answer lies here. Use this exhaustive definition and analysis of conflict to explain the fundamentals of how competing projects or visions of the future make a permanent state of "getting along" impossible. People do what they do because they want what they want. If they want something different than what you want, Voila! (sorry for the filthy "french langauge" there) You have competition and conflict is likely to follow. It is lengthy, difficult reading but if you can master it and the concepts published there, you will be able to have your way with the competition. Yes, I wrote it. Yes, it was a brutal process. Yes, I should be charging money for such wisdom. yes...yes...yes...

The Silent March of the Victors

Those that won the critical battles of the 20th Century are silently marching off into history, the sound of their passing buried in the whining of their great-grand-children.

This came in the e-mail and is purported to be “From a Military Doctor, CPT. Stephen R. Ellison, M.D.” I have no reason to doubt it’s validity, but I have not checked….

I am a doctor specializing in the Emergency Departments of the only two military Level One-trauma centers, both in San Antonio, TX and they care for civilian emergencies as well as military personnel.
San Antonio has the largest military retiree population in the world living here. As a military doctor, I work long hours and the pay is less than glamorous. One tends to become jaded by the long hours, lack of sleep, food, family contact and the endless parade of human suffering passing before you. The arrival of another ambulance does not mean more pay, only more work.
Most often, it is a victim from a motor vehicle crash. Often it is a person of dubious character who has been shot or stabbed. With our large military retiree population, it is often a nursing home patient. Even with my enlisted service and minimal combat experience in Panama, I have caught myself groaning when the ambulance brought in yet another, sick
elderly person from one of the local retirement centers that cater to military retirees. I had not stopped to think of what citizens of this age group represented.
I saw "Saving Private Ryan." I was touched deeply, not so much by the carnage, but by the sacrifices of so many. I was touched most by the scene of the elderly survivor at the graveside, asking his wife if he'd been a good man. I realized that I had seen these same men and women coming through my emergency dept and had not realized what magnificent sacrifices they had made. The things they did for me and everyone else that has lived on this planet since the end of that conflict are priceless.
Situation permitting, I now try to ask my patients about their experiences. They would never bring up the subject without the inquiry. I have been privileged to an amazing array of experiences, recounted in the brief minutes allowed in an emergency dept encounter. These experiences have revealed the incredible individuals I have had the honor of serving in a medical capacity, many on their last admission to the hospital.
There was a frail, elderly woman who reassured my young enlisted medic, trying to start an IV line in her arm. She remained calm and poised, despite her illness and the multiple needle-sticks into her fragile veins. She was what we call a "hard stick." As the medic made another attempt, I noticed a number tattooed across her forearm. I touched it with one finger and looked into her eyes. She simply said, "Auschwitz." Many of later generations would have loudly and openly berated the young medic in his many attempts. How different was the response from this person who'd seen unspeakable suffering.
Also, there was this long retired Colonel, who as a young officer had parachuted from his burning plane over a Pacific Island help by the Japanese, now an octogenarian, his head cut in a fall at home where he lived alone. His CT scan and suturing had been delayed until after midnight by the usual parade of high priority ambulance patients. Still spry for his age he asked to use the phone to call a taxi, to take him home, then he realized his ambulance had brought him without his wallet. He asked if he could use the phone to make a long distance call to his daughter who lived 7 miles away. With great pride we told him that he could not, as he'd done enough for his country and the least we could do was get him a taxi home even if we had to pay for it ourselves. My only regret was that my shift wouldn't end for several hours and I couldn't drive him myself.
I was there the night MSgt Roy Benavidez came through the emergency dept. for the last time. He was very sick. I was not the doctor taking care of him but I walked to his bedside and took his hand. I said nothing. He was so sick he didn't know I was there. I'd read his Congressional Medal of Honorcitation and wanted to shake his hand. He died a few days later.
The gentleman who served with Merrill's Marauders, the survivor of the Bataan Death March, the survivor of Omaha Beach, the 101 year old World War I veteran, the former POW held in frozen North Korea, the former Special Forces medic -- now with non-operable liver cancer, the former Viet Nam Corps commander. I remember these citizens.
I may still groan when yet another ambulance comes in, but now I am much more aware of what an honor it is to serve these particular men and women.
I have seen a Congress who would turn their back on these individuals who've sacrificed so much to protect our liberty. I see later generations that seem to be totally engrossed in abusing these same liberties.
It has become my personal endeavor to make the nurses and young enlisted medics aware of these amazing individuals when I encounter them in our emergency dept. Their response to these particular citizens has made me think that perhaps all lis not lost in the next generation.
My experiences have solidified my belier that we are losing an incredible generation and this nation knows not whet it is losing. Our uncaring government and ungrateful civilian populace should all take note. We should all remember that we must "Earn this.


What a difference between the silent march of the victors and the endless parade of victims just two generations removed.

Battle of the Bulge

Today is the 60th anniversary of the German breakout at the Battle of the Bulge. The Germans used the blitzkrieg to roll back the 1st Army and then the weather set in. The 101st Airborne was thrown into the breach to hold the crossroads at Bastogne with no artillery, armor or other fire support, no winter clothing, short of ammo, and short of food. By the 19th a better supplied and desparate enemy surrounded and assaulted them tirelessly but they held that line in the snow. Amid handwringing by his peers, Patton spun his Army 90 degrees and started to move. On the 20th the weather broke for a bit and the immensely powerful entity now known as the United States Air Force resupplied the Airborne and had it's way with the German Army while Patton's Third Army slogged to the north. Despite the freezing days, 16 hour nights, the terrifying artillery, and the hopeless prospects, the Airborne didn't give. On Christmas, when the German Commander offered to accept surrender, the official American answer was one word: "Nuts". Patton moved a quarter of a million men more than 100 winter miles. When Patton got there on the 26th, his troops kicked the s@#t out of the Germans after being on the move for 6 days. No member of the Airborne ever acknowledged needing to be rescued.
There's a reason the appeasers and nitwits want to undermine support for the war. They know that the American military cannot be beaten on the battlefield. The appeasers do not want to see another digit in the "us" column. Americans inflict more casualties than they take, even when on offense. It's that American ambition again. Suck it up and do what must be done. Be better, faster and more lethal than the other guy. Take charge and lead even when outgunned, under-equipped and under-fed. Today is also a good day to remember Todd Beamer and the other men on Flight 93 that stopped the final 9/11 blow from reaching it's target. I don't think there's another country in the world that casually produces such men. They are the exception elsewhere, but they are the norm in Amerika.

Our national motto. The Only Thing We Need to Kick Your Ass is a Reason

You are gonna love this

Turn up the speakers and grab a hankie. A Christmas Card from the folks that are willing to put everything they have upon the altar of sacrifice. Let us remember them in our prayers while we enjoy the safety and prosperity provided at their peril.

Another Domino Falls

Another One Bites the Dust

The Strength of Amerika

Here’s an outstanding piece by Herbert E. Meyer. I like this kind of stuff. It isn’t really about how You-Row-Peons feel about us or about how we feel. It’s about what we do. We’re 4 percent of the worlds population and we produce 20% of it’s wealth. You know that trade deficit? The statistic that says that we bought more from foreigners than they bought from us? Year after year we buy more from overseas than we sell overseas. You wanna know why we aren’t broke? Ya wanna know why we get richer year after year? Because the most common American trait is ambition. Americans are all about doing it better, faster, cheaper, and first. In Amerika, we are serious about production. And we understand that there is a connection between that production and our liberty, limited government, the sanctity of contract and equality before the law.
We also know that you can’t be as productive as us without the same types of liberties and protections.

Hey Jacques! You wanna know why your Frog economy is in the toilet? I’ll give you a hint. Socialism Doesn’t Work

That’s the part that the Socialist European Labor Unions don’t want you to know. The whole idea of socialism is to get paid the most for the least work. It's a more expensive way to do less. The American theory inspires us to “find a cheaper way to do more and pocket the difference.” When everyone is trying to find a better cheaper way, and can be relatively sure to keep the profits as long as they don't threaten Microsoft, it's open-source prosperity for everyone.

Pull Your Head Out of Your Cockpit

When you drive a car, you have things going on all around you and some of them can kill you. If you are paying attention to the kids fighting in the back seat and you miss the traffic signal, bad things can happen fast. "Timmy, stop teasing your sist" - WHAM. Airbag in the face. The same applies when you fly an airplane. When your head is down in the cockpit looking at instruments and dials, trying to get that damn radio to work, things can sneak up on you and…WHAM. Scorch marks on the granite.
My son and his girlfriend struggled with their relationship for a couple of months before breaking up. Now they are back to being friends and able to talk about movies, computers and movies like they used to. They rediscovered casual conversation. They stopped focusing on the relationship and started focusing on the things they have always had in common with each other.
These things are related. Anytime you are conducting a complex operation, it is a process of input and output. When you allow input relating to one part of the task to overide other inputs of higher priority, output loses its relevance to the immediate reality. Such as: while you adjusted the radio, you inadvertently put the aircraft in a 30% nose down attitude.
When you are struggling to resolve an issue with another person, if you let your head get too far into the cockpit, you can crash your relationship.
It’s a “heads-up” flyer that really knows how to coax the best out of the airplane. The flyer that keeps everything balanced and is making sure not to get channeled is the one that brings the aircraft back after facing the unexpected. Where the nose is pointing is always part of the action. A heads-up flyer doesn't get his or her attention dragged too far into the cockpit. The heads-up flyer knows where the nose is pointed. A light and smooth touch on the stick provides a much better ride than the “heavy handed yanking and banking”needed to make an emergency recovery from a tailspin.
When dealing with the people you love, don’t get channeled by the little stuff. An interesting conversation about fringe interests will usually go farther than all of the “he said-she said” accusations that you can stand.
As we roll into the holiday season, call someone and put some heads-up attention on a relationship that hasn’t been what it could be. Spouse, parent, child, friend, sig/other. But don’t try to do it by rehashing what’s wrong. Get your head out of the cockpit, figure out what’s going right and get that part working for you. Ease the throttles back to cruise and point the nose in the right direction. Then re-evaluate and decide how important that broken radio is.